Renaissance Resident Teaching Artist Dauphne Maloney said over 110 students from Richland County submitted works that were presented on stage.

"The contest was designed over a year ago to encourage young people in grades kindergarten through 12th in Richland County toward expressing themselves creatively through writing," Maloney said.

"The students submitted short stories, poems and plays which we then transfer into a reader's theatre style performance," Maloney said.

All the submissions were juried by a team of local educators and passed on for final judging to Renaissance Artistic Director Michael Thomas.

Thomas is a prolific playwright and actor, a former member of Chicago's famed Second City comedt troupe, and has written for major motion pictures and television, including Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock and Moonrise Kingdom, among many others.